Disappointing news in my own backyard of Jefferson County, where the reform, Republican-backed “Dads” ticket of Jim Powers and Preston Branaugh were defeated. In my mind, though, the story of the night has to be in Douglas County — where a unanimous majority in favor of the nation’s first school board-initiated voucher-like program appears headed for complete electoral vindication. Other lesser-touted school board results of note:

In Adams 12, the state’s fifth-largest district, conservative Mark Clark won re-election and was joined by challenger Norm Jennings, who won a convincing victory (Republican-backed Richard Ezo lost his race)

In Colorado Springs 11, the largest district in the Pikes Peak region, conservative Bob Null was re-elected and joined by former district communications director Elaine Naleski (sadly, reform-minded Lisanne McNew was defeated)

In Greeley, two strong reform candidates prevailed to take three seats in a pair of races that featured 14 candidates: Scott Rankin and Logan Richardson (fellow conservative Geoff Broughton did not prevail, however)

In both Poudre (Fort Collins) and Lewis-Palmer 38 (El Paso County), reform-minded slates all sadly went down to defeat

Conservative Ann Tisue beat out her liberal opponent in Mesa County 51 and Jeff Leany cruises through unopposed, marking a likely shift in the reform direction for what is by far the largest district on the Western Slope

Conservative Bob Kerrigan, who boldly came out against the local mill levy in Thompson School District, has an unofficial narrow lead of 228 votes — though even if he wins, he might be a lone voice of dissent on the board (where have I seen that before?)

Falcon 49 incumbent treasurer Andy Holloman finished third in a four-way race for two seats — I’m not entirely clear what the results mean for the district’s bold innovation plans, but I will be digging for answers

Conservative Karen Hoopes — wife of 2010 Republican state legislative candidate Kaarl Hoopes — looks very much like she has won a spot on the Mapleton Board of Education

A mixed bag, but all in all a positive signal for the conservative reform team against the always well-organized forces of the status quo. Meanwhile, a host of local mill levy, bond and BEST facility matching grant elections were held tonight. I haven’t been able to do a full roundup, but the results by-and-large appear to have been carried down with Senator Rollie Heath’s Proposition 103. These include the following tax and debt elections, which according to unofficial results all appear headed for defeat:

Douglas County Schools

Mesa County 51

Pueblo County 70

Thompson R-2J (Loveland)

Brighton 27J

Englewood Public Schools

Sheridan 2

Bennett 29J

Falcon 49

Peyton 23 JT

Eagle County Schools

Garfield County Re-2

Garfield County 16

Weld County Re-1

A handful of districts (mostly small- or medium-sized) I’ve been able to find defied the odds and achieved victory, including:

Not all results were easily available, but the large sample indicates a clear majority of the school district tax and debt elections (and especially in the larger districts) failed. Seeing some success in the matching funds grant elections is not so surprising, since the local tax dollar’s power is effectively doubled in the voter’s mind. I’m sure some will want to know what the three successful MLO districts did to persuade their local voters.

In the final estimation, taking what you can from an off-year election, tonight’s results are a resounding vote for fiscal restraint and an encouraging (if not perfect) result for local reform. Given the hand they’ve been dealt, what will the new reform (and status quo) board members do next? Stay tuned….

[…] Conservative-leaning reform candidates in other races yielded a mixed — but largely positive — result, given the odds against them. Too soon to tell how these results will end up affecting the move to promote effective, forward-thinking innovations. […]

[…] got a lot of big people’s attention. Prop 103’s “for the kids” tax hike went down in a ball of flames. A record number of local school tax and debt elections ran headlong into defeat. In at least one […]

[…] hike went down in a ball of blue flame (64-36, including 62-38 in Jeffco) — not to mention an unusually large failure rate of local school tax elections — leaders perhaps should have given pause. But somehow asking […]